Abstract
The publication is concerned with the use of hypoxia and hyperoxia in sports training using a model example of selected collective and endurance sports. Research of the extensive relevant literature established that there is agreement on the benefits of using higher altitudes in sports training.
However, not many studies of hyperoxia have been published. A qualitative investigation was conducted in the form of guided and structured interviews with open questions, which revealed that trainers and athletes make use of repeated shorter ten-day stays at altitude.
The literature recommends approximately twenty days at altitude, and only devotes marginal attention to the shorter ten-day model. For those reasons we concentrated on repeated longitudinal monitoring of the effect of a ten-day stay at altitude (1 850 m AMSL) on biochemical and physiological parameters and changes in specific fitness.
All tests were conducted with top athletes. Despite the problems - according to the literature - whichre-acclimatisation causes to the organism, the average morning pulse values after returning to low altitude were lower than before departing.
We verified the influence of staying and training at altitude for a duration of ten days on changes in specific fitness using a non-standardised field test. From the results it can be concluded that ten-day stays and training at altitude with the aim of improving fitness for a subsequent stay at low altitude are appropriate for use in sports training, especially for endurance sports.
It can also be concluded that inhaling concentrated oxygen has a positive effect on improved performance in the course of repeated short-term anaerobic exertions and faster recovery in the interval between them, and this effect is greater at high altitude.